TTTTAAGATCCAATGATCTTCAAA
ACGCTGCAAGATTCTCAACCTGC
TTTACTAAGCGCTGGGTCCTACTC
CAGCGGGATTTTTTATC TAAAGA
CGATGAGAGGAGTATTCGTCAGA
CCACATAGCTTTCATGTCCTGATC
GGAAGGATCGTTGGCGCCCGACC
CTCAGACTCTGTAGTGAGTTCTAT
GTCCGAGCCATTGCATGCGAGAT
CGGTAGATTGATAGGGGATACAG
AATATCCCTGGATGCAATAGACG
GACAGCTTGGTATCCTAAGCGTA
GTCG CGCGTCC GAACCCA GCTCT
ACTTTAGAGGCCTCGGATTCTGG
TGCCCGCAGGCCGCAGAACCGAT
TAGGGGCATGTACAACAATATTT
A TTAGTCAC CTTTGAGACACGAT
CTCCCACCTCACTGGAATTTAGTT
CCTGCTATAATTAGCCTTCCTCAT
TTTTAAGATCCAATGATCTTCAAA
ACGCTGCAAGATTCTCAACCTGC
TT TAC TAAGCGCTGGGT CCTA CT
C CAGCG GGATTTTTTATC TAA AG
ACGATGAGAGGAGTATTCGTCAG
ACCACATA GCTTTCATGTCCTGAT
CGGAAGGATCGTTGGCGCCCGAC
CCTCAG A C TCTGTAGTGAGTT CT
ATGTCCGAGCCATTGCATGCGAG
ATC GGTAGATTGATAGGGGATAC
AGAATATCCCTGGATGCAATAGA
CGGACAGCTTGGTATCCTAAGCG
TAGTCGCGCGTCC GAACCCAGCT
CTACTT TAGAGGCCTC GGATTCT
GGTGCCCGCAGGCCGCAGAACCG
ATTAGGGGCATGTACAACAATAT
TTATTAGTCAC CTTTGAGACACG
ATCTCCCACCTCACTGGAATTTAG
TTCCTGCTATA ATTAGCCTTCCTC
SUPERCHARGED
IMMUNITY
Researchers are pioneering cancer
treatments that go beyond creating new
drugs. The National Cancer Institute is
testing a form of immunotherapy that iden-
tifies mutations in a patient’s tumors and
then unleashes the immune system to attack
them. Here’s how the technique worked for
Judy Perkins, whose cancer was eliminated.
Perkins’s tumor was
genomically sequenced,
identifying 62 mutations.
Doctors found immune cells
called lymphocytes that
attacked four mutations.
The tumor-infiltrating
lymphocytes were
isolated and cultured.
markers in her blood declined by more than
75 percent. Four months later, after additional
infusions, tests detected no evidence of cancer.
On a hot summer day, a year and a half after
she entered the trial, McKeown, 57, showed me
around her garden in Valley Center, California.
It’s a three-acre expanse of lawns, blooming
trees, and rosebushes of red, white, lavender,
orange, and brilliant yellow nestled, improbably,
amid the parched, scrub-covered hills.
“I just feel so grateful,” she said. “I love this
whole notion of individualized medicine. I love
that they’re figuring out what’s causing that
mutation and how to target it, as opposed to
chemo that’s so disruptive across the board. Can
we just get there faster?”
P RECISION MEDICINE flips the script on
conventional medicine, which typi-
cally offers blanket recommendations
and prescribes treatments designed to help more
people than they harm but that might not work
for you. The approach recognizes that we each
possess distinct molecular characteristics, and
they have an outsize impact on our health.
Around the world, researchers are creating
precision tools unimaginable just a decade ago:
superfast DNA sequencing, tissue engineering,
cellular reprogramming, gene editing, and more.
The science and technology soon will make it
feasible to predict your risk of cancer, heart dis-
ease, and countless other ailments years before
you get sick. The work also offers prospects—
tantalizing or unnerving, depending on your
point of view—for altering genes in embryos
and eliminating inherited diseases.
More immediately, the research points the
way to customized therapies for the most recal-
citrant cancers. Last spring, researchers at the
National Cancer Institute reported the dramatic
recovery of a woman with metastatic breast
cancer, Judy Perkins, after an experimental
therapy using her own immune cells to attack
her tumors. The team, led by Steven Rosenberg,
an immunotherapy pioneer, had sequenced
her tumor’s DNA to analyze the mutations. The
50 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC